Kindred Spirits
by TrueDespair
Summary: Syaoran was the type of person who knew life inside and out. The good and the bad, the ups and downs. But never had he thought that he would be in a situation like this. But then again, it wasn't like he saw it coming. Not by a long shot. Especially with meeting a child who is reminded of him in many ways. Post!TRC Three parts total. -ongoing-


Writing out of my comfort zone and into a fandom that I thought I got out of long ago.

This takes place before Digimon Adventure. Well, this part at least. This will have three parts and that's that.

Ugh, I feel dumb for writing this but I hope you all will enjoy it...somehow.

* * *

**Part one: Meeting**

* * *

"_Syaoran….Syaoran…"_

"Mm….?"

"_Syaoran….wakey, wakey…"_

"S-Sakura…?"

"No silly!"

A pair of brown eyes opened only to see white. He blinked. "Huh?"

A giggle. "Syaoran's sleeping in again~!" The white grew smaller as whatever it was moved back. "Mokona didn't want him to sleep the day away! It's already tomorrow~! So raise and shine, Syaoran~!"

The young man groaned as he sat up; bringing Mokona onto his lap. He rubbed his eyes and looked around. He then nodded. "Oh, that's right. We arrived in this world just last night." He and Mokona were with his companions Kurogane and Fai but due an unfortunate accident, they got separated; he and Mokona near a park of some sort and the other pair, god knows where.

When they arrived firsthand, it was already night-time. Drained from fighting from the last world they went to, Syaoran opted to just resting on a near-by bench; across from a very tall apartment complex. Using his outer coat as a blanket, he slept with Mokona on top of him.

He didn't realize how tried he was though.

Putting his coat next to him, Syaoran stood up and stretched. "Ugh…so, where are we again?"

"Hmm…." Mokona had her smile and hopped in a 360 angle manner. "Well, this looks like Japan…but I don't this is the Japan we know…"

"I see…" Syaoran wasn't surprised. He had been to a least almost a dozen different versions of Japan, a few not even having the name. Yawning, he smiled back at Mokona. "Well, I guess we should start looking for Kurogane and Fai first before we do anything else."

Mokona nodded. "Aye, Aye; sir~!" She saluted; or tried to with her tiny paws. She then hopped on Syaoran's shoulder. "Let's go!"

Chuckling with his coat in his arms, Syaoran smile as they started walking.

* * *

"Mokona's hungry!"

"But Mokona; we just started moving." Syaoran gave his friend a teasing smile. We're only halfway around the park."

"But Mokona hasn't eaten much since that last world." Mokona whined a bit. Her stomach started to growl just to prove her point. "I need food!"

Laughing softly, Syaoran nodded. "Yes, yes. I think we can venture into the city and pick out a food vendor of some sort. Just wait a little longer okay?"

Though she whined, Mokona nodded. "Okay. Mokona will wait."

Flashing a grateful smile, the two continued their search.

As the young man walked; a bunch of children ran pass by him, playing and laughing; having a good time. By glancing at their clothes, Syaoran can see that it was late spring, maybe early summer. He looked up at the sky and winced at the bright sun. Must be the afternoon. Going back to the road ahead of him, Syaoran envied those children.

Innocent, carefree,_ Happy_.

With his smile softening, Syaoran's mind went to his beloved when he was meeting her for the first time as kids. All those wonderful times they had together. Weaving flower crowns, enjoying those traveling circuses, and even looking up at the stars at night. He missed that. He sometimes wished that they can go back to that.

Innocent, carefree, and happy.

Happiness seemed that it was fleeting from him with each passing day. He missed her. He wondered when he was going to see her again.

Mokona who was oddly silent, glanced over at Syaoran who had a sad but nostalgic look over his face. "Syaoran…?"

"Come over here Kari!"

The two blinked and looked over at the park. Near the jungle gum and the swings were two small children. One with big brown hair and a smile and another with soft lighter brown hair and a fragile-looking body. The slightly taller one was holding what Syaoran knew was a soccer ball. He wanted to play with that girl in front of him.

"That's so cute!" Mokona quietly gushed. "A brother and sister playing outside."

"Brother and sister?" Syaoran glanced at Mokona. "How do you know they're siblings?"

With a soft smile, Mokona looked back at the pair. "Because that little boy brought a girl out to play and the way he's looking at her; they seem really close. Closer then friends."

"Oh, I see. So they're family. That's nice." Syaoran nodded. He admired older siblings who took time out of their carefree days to play with their siblings. Even looking back Touya would actually play with Sakura or read with her. Even if Touya pissed him off to no end, he knew sibling love when he saw it. "I guess school must be out for the day. Huh."

The big haired little boy grinned at his little sister. "Now, this is how you play soccer." He placed the ball on the ground and kicked it gently to her. "Okay, now you do it."

Syaoran watched with slight interest. He may not know this boy at all; he can tell that he valued his family, even his sibling who he was teaching soccer to.

The little girl weakly lifted her leg. Her foot barely kicked the ball as it slowly rolled almost halfway back to the older boy.

The boy frowned a bit before giving her a sheepish smile. "Ah, don't worry Kari. You'll get the hang out it sooner or later."

Chuckling, Syaoran nodded to Mokona. Nothing more to see here. With the creature nodding back at him, the two started walking again; hopefully to reach the city before nightfall.

Only to stop when a soft plop reached their ears.

"Huh? Kari?"

….

"Kari?"

Then came a scream. "_Kari_!"

Syaoron looked back and his eyes widened at the scene. The young boy had the ball in his hands but now the little girl just collapsed onto the ground; passed out. A few seconds went by but the girl didn't get up. His stomach dropped as the boy's body shook. _Oh no._

"Mokona doesn't like this." Mokona stated. "What should we do?" She knew that there are times that they should help and when they shouldn't but what about that girl? "Syao—wah!" She gripped the shoulder tightly as the young man ran up to the pair out of impulse.

Without thinking, Syaoran ran as fast as he could to them. His heart beating hard against his ribcage; fearing for the worse. As he was close to the pair, the boy had his little sister in his arms; starting to panic. "E-Excuse me? Is there something wrong?"

The boy looked up to the young man with big brown eyes. He was a bit apprehensive to talk to a stranger but before Syaoran can reassure him, his lips started to quiver. "M-My sister….I was just p-playing with her…a-and s-s-she…she…."

"Hey, hey." Syaoran kneeled down and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's okay. I'm sure she just had a fainting spell." He then looked around if he can call one of those taxi things so he can take the two home.

The boy's eyes widened as there was regret and guilt in them. "B-But I-"

"Hey!" A random person ran to the small group. "What's going on?"

"There's been an incident." Syaoran stated in a calm, serious tone. "This young girl has fainted. She's breathing for the moment." He can faintly see her chest doing up and down. "But she looks ill."

"Then she needs to go to the hospital." The person got out a cell phone and dialed the emergency number. "I'll call for an ambulance."

"Thank you." Syaoran then gently put the girl in his arms. "Mokona, get an ice pack, _now_."

"W-What are you doing?" The boy asked before gasping as an ice pack flew out of Mokona's mouth. He stared. "What the? How did it do that?"

"No time to explain." Syaoran tore a piece of his coat and wrapped it around the pack and placed it on the girl's forehead. "She's burning up." He stated. "Her skin's starting to sweat and she's more or less unconscious. Maybe it's not a fainting spell, after all." He glanced at Mokona. "She's sick…"

Mokona hugged Syaoran's arm. "Will she be okay?"

"We can only hope. Right now we have to wait." Syaoran sighed. He was so concentrated on helping a helpless little girl that he barely knew that if he just looked up for one second….

He would have seen a pair of distressed brown eyes looking down at the girl; frozen up in shock and dismay.

* * *

The time between the park and the hospital was a blur to Syaoran. Next thing he knew, he was at some sort of waiting room. After the girl was taken to the hospital, with a help of another stranger, they got there just minutes after.

With the little boy holding his hand, he walked quickly up to the front desk; panting a bit. "Excuse me!"

The receptionist looked up; bored. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, hi. Um….we just got here." Syaoran explained. "There was a little girl who fainted and was sent to this hospital. We want to know if she's okay."

Sighing, the receptionist started looking into a small pile of papers in the front. "Name?"

"….." Syaoran drew in a blank. They were such in a rush that he forgot to most important thing; names. "Uh…well…you see—"

"Kari!"

Syaoran and the receptionist looked over and saw the little boy climbing on the desk with a frown.

"H-Her name's Kari Kamiya!" The little boy repeated. "I'm her brother, Tai! Is she going to be okay? Please! I need to know!"

"….." The receptionist blinked before going back to the papers. "Let's see. Kamiya….Kamiya…oh! There." A slip of paper was shown. "Kamiya, Kari. Age 4. Yes, she had just been admitted. But you would have to wait. The nurses and doctors are doing their best so it hard to tell right now."

"…Oh…."

Syaoran knew that tone. That can be both good _and_ bad.

"However, I would have to call your parents to let them know." The receptionist picked up the phone. "And what are you to this boy?"

Seeing that the attention was back at him, Syaoran stuttered. "Oh, well; it's a funny story actually—"

"Babysitter." The boy shouted. "This guy's our babysitter." He gave out a weak smile.

"Okay then. Then he gets to stay with you then." Dialing some numbers, the receptionist nodded. "For now, please wait here. Someone will come by soon."

Nodding, Syaoran took the boy and his companion in one of those chairs and sat down. Sighing, he glanced at Mokona. "Well, I guess we're stuck here for a bit." He glanced at the boy who was staring down at the floor. Frowning for a second, he smiled. "So…Tai, was it?"

The boy flinched before looking up. "Yeah. That's my name; Tai….Tai Kamiya."

"Well it's nice to meet you. I'm Syaoran and this little one here is Mokona."

"Nice to meet you, Tai!" Mokona whispered loudly.

Tai blinked at Mokona before he pointed at it. "So…what is that? You never told me. It almost look like this stuffed animals in a toy store." Forgetting why he was here, he then smiled at Mokona. "But…it looks kinda cool."

"Yay~! Mokona's cool!" The white creature cheered quietly as it hopped from Syaoran's shoulder to Tai's lap. "But I'm no stuffed animal! Mokona's a Mokona."

Though the boy was confused, Tai smiled. "Okay, then you're Mokona." He pointed to the creature. "But why are you being quiet?"

"Mokona's very special you see." Syaoran spoke up just as quietly. "So special that if anyone else were to know, we'd get in big trouble." He placed a finger on his lips. "So let's keep it our little secret, okay?"

Nodding seriously, Tai had a determined look on his face. "Got it. I won't tell."

Chuckling at the child's expression, Syaoran leaned back on the seat. "So…Kari…she's your sister, right?"

Idly distracted by petting Mokona, Tai slowly nodded. "Yes. She's my little sister." His eyes were downcast. "She's my only sister. S-She can be annoying and junk but…she's okay…for a girl."

"I see." Syaoran chuckled. "So Kari gets on your nerves sometimes, then."

"Yeah." Tai grumbled. "But I take care of her. Mommy would be out doing boring stuff like shopping while I'm stuck with her. But it's not _so_ bad."

Mokona giggled as she felt Tai's hand on her head.

"Well it is the older sibling's responsibility to watch over the younger ones." Syaoran stated. However he soon frowned as he heard sniffling. "Tai? Is something wrong?"

Rubbing his eyes, Tai shook his head. "I-It's my fault Kari's like this….I shouldn't have…"

Now concerned for the boy, Syaoran moved a bit before looking up at the boy's eyes. "Hey, whatever happened to her couldn't be avoided. No harm done." He then saw that he wasn't getting through to him. "Come on, Tai. It's not your fault she's like this."

"Yes it is!" Tai shouted as he tried to hold back some tears. "It is…I-I..." He sighed sadly. "I...I was just c-coming home from s-school…." He closed his eyes. "K-Kari didn't go b-because she was sick…b-but I wanted to play soccer, you know…but mom wasn't home yet and I was b-bored…and so I thought…"

"Yes?" Syaoran rarely heard that kind of distress from a child; especially one that was only in grade school.

"I-I just thought….that s-she should come with me so I can play." Tai rubbed his eyes. "S-She looked okay a while ago…really she did…." He hung his head. "I wanted to teach her how to play so we can play but…" He shook his head. "I didn't know…I really didn't…."

"Oh my god…" Syaoran then got the idea. "Oh Tai." _Now_ he knew why the little girl looked so terrible. But what would he say? Though it was obvious that the young child did but it wasn't like he saw it coming; no one could. With a grunt, he reached out and placed both hands on the boy's shoulders. "Tai, listen to me. It's okay."

The young boy blinked before he had a big frown on his face. "No it's not!" Tai denied. "It's not okay! Kari's in the hospital, because of me—"

"I know." Syaoran calmly interrupted. "I can't imagine what you're feeling right now but…but I can understand." He softly smiled. "And believe me, it's hard. You've made a mistake that much is true…but…you're not the only one who has."

The young boy was confused. "W-What do you mean, S-Syaoran?" The older boy's name was a little hard to pronounce. Well, he didn't _look_ like he was from here.

"You see, everyone makes mistakes. Some small and some that got other people hurt. In fact, I have made so many that I can't even begin to tell you how much it pained me and the people I cared about. But when it came down to it, as long as you try to mend those mistakes, then it doesn't seem so bad. The important thing here is to learn from the mistakes, fix them and not doing the same one twice….okay?"

"B-But what if it does?" Tai's small voice came up. "What if Kari gets sick again? What if next time she won't be in the hospital?"

"Yeah, it's scary not knowing the future. I have those days too." Syaoran grinned. "But like I said, we can only wait and hope for the best. Your sister _will _be fine and things _will_ get better." He insisted. He can't guarantee that life from here _will _get better but a childhood like Tai's has got to be greater than his ever was.

"You sure?" Tai asked.

Syaoran though slowly, nodded. "It's going to be okay."

The boy slowly nodded. "Mm. Yeah, it's…yeah…" He then yawned. "I'm so tired." He rubbed his eyes. "I wonder if mom and dad will get mad at me."

"They might be." Syaoran had _no_ doubt of that. "But I'm sure they will understand. Or at least try to." He can't say for sure how mad Tai's parents were going to be but there was always the possibility. "So don't worry."

Tai slowly nodded. "M'kay." He knew that what he did was wrong but he honestly didn't know this was going to happen. What kid would? He really screwed up. He'll probably be grounded for this or worse…

Soon there were sounds of footsteps and panting coming from the hallway.

Tai looked up in curiosity. The panting got louder and the footsteps got heavier. He then saw a shadow from the corner that looked very familiar. His eyes went wide.

Syaoran heard the sounds too and when he stood up, he glanced at Tai. What could be the matter? He then turned his head. Before him was a disheveled, extremely upset woman with light brown hair tied into a ponytail, wearing casual clothing and sandals with socks. He watched as the woman was catching her breath; as if she ran a marathon.

But the traveler went unnoticed as the woman's eyes drifted down to the young boy. Her eyes then held a deep anger; an anger that a mother shouldn't have for a child. She gritted her teeth and started walking forward.

The boy suddenly got scared and confused.

"Tai!" The woman yelled; her eyes never leaving the boy's. "_Do you realize what you've done?"_

* * *

**TBC**

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**Part two: Bonding** coming soon~!


End file.
